[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Our thanks to Sian Williams for this valuable contribution. I have added 'Approaches to meeting information needs in different languages' to the subject line and would like to invite comment from other organisations.]
IPCRG is a relatively small charity but has long recognised that there is no universal language of primary care. We therefore try to produce all our educational materials about respiratory care in multiple languages. e.g. https://www.ipcrg.org/resources/desktop-helpers We've tried various processes. Firstly we produce the resource in one language - typically English. We then invite countries who want the guidance in their language to request a translation. Currently we then do an initial AI translate and then pass to the clinician translator/validator in that country who checks it for their language and also adapts for the local context (eg if a drug or device isn't available it needs to be "tweaked"). Alternatively in some languages eg French, Mandarin, where the AI doesn't seem adequate, the clinician translators work from a plain text file and then send back to us and we typeset. We don't do back translation as the translators are members of our network and they know what's appropriate better than us - "work locally, collaborate globally". For videos we now do in PowerPoint so that we can edit slide by slide, and add subtitles, again, mainly using AI but then checked and edited by a first language speaker.
We try to make all our resources Creative Commons for non-commercial partners and "tweaking" and translation fall within the licence. If we can, we offer a small honorarium for the translation/validation process
Conferences are harder. They remain, despite the challenges of carbon emissions and so on, a really important way to network and share experience. We run a global meeting every two years. We work with the local host, in our case that will be Tunisia in 2026, to work out what local delegates need and provide that, eg we will be running workshops in French for the North African audience. That means we are recruiting French-speaking members of our network as educators/speakers eg first language speakers from the region and France, and sometimes second language. But it needs to go further. Eg for our Asthma Right Care materials, our Tunisian colleagues first had to create a lexicon of common words used in communication about asthma - Tunisian/Arabic dialect, French and English. That had to address not just a direct translation but also the "work arounds" clinicians use when there is stigma, as there remains, soberingly, about having asthma. eg "wheezy bronchitis". https://ipcrg2026.org/
Then, there are different cultures regarding teaching styles. However, our Teach the Teacher programme tries to teach about teaching as well as content, to ensure that the learning objectives are set and the teaching style selected to match the objective.
www.ipcrg.org/education/education-programmes/teach-the-teacher
One more point to make, "primary care" turns out to be a much bigger translation challenge. Of course, there are direct translations but the meaning can vary considerably. e.g. When we asked a senior figure in respiratory medicine in South Africa who delivered primary respiratory care in their country, they said community health workers. But there is also a well established family medicine structure in South Africa. And indeed, some respiratory functions such as diagnosis and management of common respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD are carried out by respiratory specialists in some countries. Therefore we tend to think of primary care by function not profession.
So, translation is definitely doable and definitely necessary but there is a lot of contextual discussion needed too.
Thanks
HIFA profile: Sian Williams is Chief Executive Officer at the International Primary Care Respiratory Group in the UK. Professional interests: Implementation science, NCDs, primary care, respiratory health, education, evaluation, value, breaking down silos. sian.health AT gmail.com